# Importing and exporting data in SQLite

> Part of Prisma's Data Guide. The complete index is at https://www.prisma.io/dataguide/llms.txt.

Importing and exporting data with SQLite is fast and easy. Learn how to transfer data across the boundaries of your databases.

Canonical URL: https://www.prisma.io/dataguide/sqlite/importing-and-exporting-data-in-sqlite
Authors: Justin Ellingwood
Content revision: 8ea77e5fdac07e33205a18aa6afcfbc52bef3d75eb21128466de453fc8bc5fdb
Source revision: c9a87c0db11e7456020d173bc74dc771048e8f5e

## Overview

This document describes how you can export data from and import data into a SQLite database. You can learn more about this topic in the official [SQLite docs](https://sqlite.org/cli.html#converting_an_entire_database_to_an_ascii_text_file).

## Data export with `sqlite3`

[`sqlite3`](https://www.sqlite.org/cli.html) is a native SQLite command line utility you can use for various workflows across your SQLite database. To see all the options for this command, run:

```shell
sqlite3 --help
```

Exporting data is often done with the `.dump` command within the `sqlite3` prompt.

To export data, you need to enter the `sqlite3` prompt and point it to the location of your SQLite database file (this will sometimes have a `.db` suffix):

```shell
sqlite3 ./dev.db
```

Once you're in the prompt, you can export data as follows:

```
.output ./backup.sql
.dump
.exit
```

Alternatively, you can export a specific table by adding the table name after the `.dump` command in the prompt. For example the following command only dumps the `users` table:

```
.output ./backup_users.sql
.dump users
.exit
```

If you want to exclude all data and only export the _database schema_ ([DDL](https://www.prisma.io/dataguide/intro/database-glossary#data-definition-language)), you can use `.schema` instead of `.dump`:

```
.output ./backup_schema.sql
.schema
.exit
```

## Importing data from SQL files

After having used the `.dump` command inside the `sqlite3` prompt to export your SQLite database as an SQL file, you can restore the state of the database by feeding the SQL file back into `sqlite3` using the `.read` command.

Before you can use the `.read` command, you need to enter the `sqlite3` prompt and point it to your SQLite database file:

```shell
sqlite3 ./restore.db
```

Now you can import the data from your SQL files as follows:

```
.read ./backup.sql
.exit
```

## Conclusion

Exporting data from SQLite and ingesting it again to recreate your data structures and populate databases is a good way to migrate data, as well as back up and recover.  Understanding how the `.dump` and `.read` commands work together to accomplish this task will help you transfer data across the boundaries of your databases.